Federal GMM 168's for 1000 yards

I recently decided to shoot an F Class match with my 308 Win. I have a lot of Federal Gold Medal Match (GMM) 168's and thought I might use them. There's been a lot of talk lately about them not making it to 1000 in any stable or accurate condition but being hard headed and remembering past experience(s) I asked decide to try them. Here's my results with a comparison to the Fed GMM 175's.

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First, it was nice to get to an organized match once again. I met XShooter and others, very friendly folks all around. There was a little shock from some of the highpower type shooters when the mention of cost of "tactical" rifles was broached. (A fella next to me had a Chandler and of course my G-A Precision.) Several folks had little to no love for the tactical rifle(s) certainly feeling they were too costly ("I could build you a better shooting rifle for half that!") and also scoffed at the durability claims seeing such claimed use as craziness and abuse on the grandest scale. (I suspect some of this was out of fear of the capabilities of the tactical shooters and some as PsyOps. )

Now the results, drum roll please......................

Finished my first F Class shoot yesterday, a lot of fun, very interesting and of course educational.

First I'll mention that there were several fellas shooting more traditional "tactical" style as I know it. Factory ammunition, low(er) power scopes, bipods, and even some 308 Wins. Several were quite easy to pick out of the crowd and I imagine I was in that latter category .

The fella I squaded with was a Palma/Highpower type shooter with two rifles, a 300 Win mag loaded hot and a 308 Win with handloads. I mentioned to him I'd try to be as unobstructive as possible but that I need a little assistance as it was my first match. He examined my rifle and gear, no terribly obvious scoffing there but some "one of those" was a little apparent (I didn't know if it was me being a newbie or the "sniper" rifle look. When I got on line and pulled my ammo out of the pack he immediately stated "Factory ammo?". I told him I was comfortable with the stuff and that's about all I've ever shot in the rifle(s). I also mentioned I was going to switch between the GMM 175's and GMM 168 to test their effective/accuracy at the 600 and 1000 yard lines. He was not impressed by that remark or my choice of ammunition. (I had the feeling that if I had been his kid I'd have ended up behind the woodshed for a short session ) I mentioned I was there for fun and education and that one of us is going to smarted at the end of the day. Once we got over our initial touchy feely greeting and equipment review we got along well and by the end of the day we were nearly best buddies!!!

Now about the F-Class match / ammo test.

I was shooting my G-A Precision M40a1 type rifle, Harris bipod, Leupold 3.5x10M1 LR, and a poly bead filled sand sock. We fired two (2) relays at each range (600 yards and 1000 yards) and I shot one of each relay distance with 175's and 168's. I shot on the F/TR class not the Open class.

600 Yards

GMM 168

Score 199-15X

GMM 175

Score 196-7X

Trajectory data The temps were pretty high, about 90 to 95 (estimate), humidity had to be at 100%, site elevation was 500ASL, wind light from 3 to 6 o'clock mostly with a few quick switched to 9 o'clock.

For the 168's I used 13.75MOA up and .25 to .5 (R) windage.
For the 175's I used 13.75MOA up and from 5.(R) to 1.25 (L) for windage to keep the wind.

I was a bit suprised that the Come-Ups were the same for the 168's and 175's at 600 yards. I feel that the lesser score with the 175's was primarily due to wind conditions as the rounds were dispersed horizontally on the target crossing the 'X" ring (we'll blame wind for the 175's lesser showing at 600).

1000 yards

GMM 168

Score 188-4X

GMM 175

Score 197-6x

Come-Ups for the GMM 168's at 1000, 36.5MOA with wind up to 2MOA (see, it was a light wind!)

Come-Ups for the GMM 175's at 1000, 34MOA and again up to 2MOA for wind.

As for the 168's performance at 1000 yards, I'm a little sceptical as to it being just the bullet that caused the lesser score. My relay was just before a little rain squall and the winds were on/off again with some running mirage. My round impacts we're pretty equally dispersed horizontal and vertical but I can't rule out wind and mirage. Once in the pits I checked the target and there was no indication that any of the the 168 rounds had keyholed and the response from the target pullers for my relay was no different that previous so I assume the projectile was still supersonic as predicted by the ballistic software. I know they observe the impact area for pulling the target but may also listed for the tell-tale "crack" as an augment to check the impact area. (Recall that the temps were in the 90's range, perhaps that's an out.)

It's hard to argue with a 188 vs a 197 as a score and I'd probably agree that the 175's are better suited to 1000 yards but my data is a little thin for such a close comparison I'd guess. All-in-all I'd say for yesterdays application (31July2004) the 168's were on par with the 175's.

The fella I shot with did not fair well, he had trouble with loads and trouble in the pits. His scores were not near mine with many 6's and 5's, different class (Palma/Highpower vs F)shooter of course. He was still not convinced that factory ammo was the way for me to go, he thought I could have done better with handloads but I'm not at all convinced.

I had great fun, met great folks and shot well. I would certainly have liked to clean the 600 yard stage with the 168's but the 9 (the 18th round) was probably well deserved. It's been a lot of years since I've shot in an NRA type match (since 1986) and it was enjoyable and good to see so many shooters once more.

I'm gonna try it again soon... And once more some 168's mixed in just for comparison.

BTW: They have a neat little thing as a giveaway. Shoot an "X" as the first sighter and get a Wooden Dollar! I added one of these to my collection of "neat but soon to be forgotten stuff".

Awesome post Dave!
Here in MO, I have tried to shoot the 168s to 1000 a couple of times and they just won't do it. Dunno...
Good tip for beginners here is to notice that the heavier bullet (175) was the same as the lighter (168) out to 600 but then that's where the laws of physics take over and the heavy bullets win. Two and a half MOA might not seem like a lot to some folks but at 1000 yards that's 25 inches roughly. That's a clean miss on a deer and maybe an elk too....
Keep 'em coming Dave!!!! And next time use the 300 WSM and compare scores to the 308....inquiring minds wanna know!!!

I don't know the instrument velocity, this is factory ammo and I'm afraid I just shoot it. Published speeds are in the 2600 and 2640 range but I believe I'm probably closer to 2700fps for both loads. I'm having trouble back-calculating a BC and speed but I'll work at it a little more.

Good info Dave. My guess, as you stated, is that it might have been a little different if the temps would've been in the 40s. Were you shooting a 24" barrel?

I started shooting LR/HP with a very similar setup: stock Remington 40X with 26" tube, 10X Leupold M1 Ultra with standard mildot reticle, Luppy tactical rings, canvas web sling for support (this was pre F-class & the sling was a must).

I got the same reactions from the veterans as you did: you'da thunk I had a pile of dog turds in the Pelican case when I opened it they soured up so bad! I shot 155gr handloads the first trip, and 175s the next with @ 6,000 rounds through the tube. That old web sling gets uncomfortable after 30 minutes in position.

If memory serves, I had a 193 the first time out & a 195 the next. Several of the sourpusses were quiet...fun ain't it? Keep up with the challenge & the reports - "It ain't the girl you bring to the dance that makes it fun, it's how you do the dancin'."

That sounds resonable. I'm running 168s out of a 24" bbl @ 2600fps. Would like to try 190 JLKs in the same rifle. I haven't talked to Jimmy in over a year, but hear he's making some new bullets. Wadda ya know?

db

SB,

Haven't seen you in a while, but the group at Rivoli 1K range I have been shooting with lately have been a very helpful bunch. Unless they have talking behind my back and I don't know it.

I have a Savage 10FP in 308. I shoot the 168SMK at 2725. I have shot it out to 1000 and have not had any problems. It is not quite as accurate as my 30-06 with the 190SMK though. Those were some nice scores. I currently shoot highpower (service rifle) for my college team and have been interested in F Class for a while. Maybe I will give it a try sometime.
Gene Cole III

I was just out shooting the 308 across the Oehler and the LOT of Fed GMM 168's I have chronograph at 2756 avg. for 4 shots. Sort of explains the difference between the published 2600 - 2640 trajectory and the results I was getting. New prediction 90 degrees, 500 ASL .446 BC 14.1 at 600yds and 34.9 at 1000yds, I used 13.75 for 600 and 36.5 for 1000.

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